Disclaimer : I don't own anything or anyone Tolkien wrote about and you would be silly to think that. Same goes for all the other brand names or whatever.
PS I'm not even going to pretend I know Elvish as that would be disastrous, so I'm afraid you're all going to have put up with common.
PPS My guilty pleasure is Mary Sue style stories. I believe there are good ones out there and I enjoy pretending it could happen to me, who wouldn't relish the chance to get archery lessons off Legolas. I could never claim my writing to be great but it's been a labour of love for me so just be warned, it's a little bit silly at times.
TEN YEARS ON - I am still here and writing - albeit much slower - and completely determined to finish this story! You can see how old this is by the fact Tae 'disconnects' her dial-up internet...
RATED M For innuendo and much later action.
Chapter One
The evening sky was a mixture of fuchsia and purple as Tae Epsom sat writing - well, attempting to write - her Biology assignment.
Her thoughts kept wandering to the second tab she had open on her desktop computer.
As you can quite imagine, her essay was progressing rather slowly, if at all. "Forget this, I'm going to bed," she said quietly- addressing no one in particular (due to the fact that the flat was empty). The girl saved the little she had written for her assessment, logged off from the word processing program and disconnected the internet, her homework session, as usual, had turned into a 'ficfest' and now her mind was brimming with tales of Middle Earth and it's notorious characters.
A few minutes later, Tae was ready for bed so she picked up her personal CD player, checked the right disc was in, and settled down to the rhythms of Lord of the Rings- Howard Shore style. Although her homemade compilation CD wasn't exactly lullaby like (think 'A Knife In The Dark'), she swiftly drifted off to sleep, planning to rise early to finish her assignment.
Lately she had been staying up far too late finishing off various pieces of coursework for her university tutors. She had just begun a masters qualification, returning to education after being forced to take a gap year due to her father's death. She had been deeply affected by his rapid decline in health and helped the hospice nurses look after him as the cancer ravaged his once athletic and healthy body. Her mother had walked out when Tae was starting high school and as a result she was quite a solitary and independent individual. Her father had never gotten angry about his wife's walkout, which bugged Tae no end, she had wished he would stop bottling his feelings and grieve, or get angry for the betrayal. Tae, on the other hand, was still angry at her mother, wherever she was, because she could not understand her departure. Her parents had always seemed to get on well and respected each other tenderly. However much she got angry at her absent parent, she would always remember a gentle, elegant woman who enthralled everyone she met, especially her father.
These days Tae lived alone in a flat which she owned, close to the city where her uni campus was. Thanks to the inheritance her father left she could afford a decent PC and internet access, something her fellow students could only dream of. Her mind had always been creative and she'd been introduced to The Lord of the Rings and other fantasy fiction from a very early age, escapism was her all time favourite pastime.
So late nights and an over-active imagination could have been to blame for what happened next.
'What the-.'
Tae knew beyond a doubt that she was dreaming, yet it was all so real. She was sitting cross-legged in the middle of someone's sitting room. The area was like an old fashioned library: big roaring fire, lots of dark wood and that rich warm leathery smell. Looking up off the floor Tae noticed a cloaked figure staring back at her from behind a tall desk stacked with many sheaves of paper. Typically for Tae, she immediately scanned what little of the figure's face she could see. She soon relaxed; the girl had faith this stranger would cause her no harm.
"Why do you so visibly relax, child? Any normal being faced with this situation would be more than a little perturbed," the mysterious stranger asked.
Tae was well aware that she was dreaming, though she thought carefully before answering. She played along with the situation in the hope that this harmless dream would be last longer than they normally did: "I do not sense evil in you, I am calm because I perceive you to be no threat."
"And why is that?" the hooded stranger asked with a smirk.
Tae silently considered her next reply. She didn't know the nature of this man so she didn't know whether to be polite and ladylike or to let the guy in on her secret technique. She mentally tossed a coin. "You lack facial hair my friend."
But instead of the quizzical look that she'd expected, the figure threw off his hooded cloak amidst with a peel of light laughter. "I'm no threat to you because I haven't got a beard? By Eru," he continued, "What is this world coming to where people are judged on their grooming habits...the strength of men is in his beard..?"
The stranger continued chuckling but Tae wasn't listening, her mind was currently working overdrive. Since throwing off his hood the 'fic-savvy' girl noticed the features of the male sat before her; long black hair; grey twinkling eyes; opulent clothes; fair skin unmarred by age, or facial fuzz for that matter and…pointy bloody ears! Tae sat there; hand over her mouth and eyes wide. This was beginning to look like an interesting dream!
"You must be joking," was all she managed to say before more even more gales of laughter erupted from the merry 'stranger'.
Finally, he stopped laughing though a smile was still evident upon his fair face. "Welcome to Imladris, Tae Epson. I've summoned you here in a dream because we here in Middle Earth think it's high time for you to come home."
"So you are Elrond Halfelven?" with a nod from him Tae continued, "And you're an ELF?" wordlessly Mr Halfelven lifted back his raven coloured hair to more fully expose his leaf shaped ears (his eyebrows rising mirthfully). Tae was getting more and more excited at the prospect of a dream so real she could even publish it as a fic.
"Well, technically I'm half an elf as you pointed out before, it's not my second name for naught you know," smiled Elrond half an elf.
"Ok..." Tae began, trying to play along with the story: "What are you talking about 'me coming back to Middle Earth' and who's we?" she enquired.
"Tae, I'll explain (At this Elrond became rather stern and serious). You know who I am, and I you. Your mother was well known and loved by all of the Elves, she dwelt in Lorien and she was a spell caster of significant power. For reasons better left unsaid, one day she left the Golden Wood to wander the world. What happened later we know little of, what we do know is that she gave birth to a child on your planet: you. You are a very special person Tae, within you are secrets that will help save our world."
His admission threw her for a moment, but then she supposed her subconscious would have access to her memories to construct the dream so why shouldn't it mention her mother. Even so, the hairs on the back of her neck began to lift.
"Righhhhht. My mum was an elf, that explains a few things. And Middle Earth needs saving? That's typical isn't it, what is it this time, Gollum get reborn?"
"Gollum?" replied Elrond without any trace of recognition.
"Oh...is Smaug still alive?"
"The demon on the Lonely Mountain? As far as I am aware yes...how do you know about that?" asked the normally unshakeable elf.
"Um, from my mother..." said Tae. This dream wasn't flowing very well, Elrond didn't seem to be very all-knowing in this dream.
"You know of her heritage already?"
"Err, she read me a book this guy called Tolkien wrote about Middle Earth," Tae thought it was better not to mention Jackson's recent films which had caused a frenetic re-surge in popularity for the stories.
"Tol-keen? I know of no elf of that name. I do not think he could have written a history of Arda without your mother's inspiration. Perhaps she used his name as an alias... or dictated to him? When first your mother arrived in your world your father was not even born. Time flows differently on your world compared to here so she was probably Tolkien's muse, instilling within him a taste of the knowledge of our world and its peoples," he surmised.
"I know this should be hard for me to digest, but I read about this all the time," Tae said cryptically, letting the dream run its course, perhaps she would wake up soon and besides, it was not often since her mother left that she would dream about elves. "So come on then, what am I supposed to do?"
"I wish to bring you to Middle Earth." Elrond said, matter of fact.
"Yes, sure. You're asking me to take a leap of faith or something like that?" Elrond nodded in reply before elaborating on the reasons.
"You must destroy a threat to the elven races, the mage that taught your mother in the ways of sorcery has become evil and with her gone he is out of control. If you decline or fail than there is no hope for Middle Earth; all will come to ruin. Even Valinor will not be exempt from that fate. I ask a lot I know- but you are one of our only hopes. My people- the Elves- are not of sufficient strength to fight this evil alone, the race of men are weak (plus they haven't discovered razors)," Elrond paused and sighed. "From my earlier behaviour you might perceive me to be nonchalant about the whole situation. Forgive me. I was simply joyous to see you, for through you I catch a glimpse of your mother's mischievous spirit, she and I grew up together. I miss her a great deal"
"How would I get to Middle Earth, never mind Rivendell? How do I choose to accept?" Tae asked, ignoring the suspicious mention of her mother.
"It was written in the stars that you will accept, all you have to do is find an item belonging to your mother, hold it and say these words," this said, the half elf passed Tae a rolled up piece of parchment bound with a silver ribbon. "We will need time to prepare and get you settled in. I suggest you gather some belongings before you take the trip on the morrow. As I said before, time passes differently on these two worlds so if you return to this earth it will be as if you were on Middle Earth only a few seconds."
Tae wondered at his emphasis on 'if' she were to return, this dream wasn't running like one of the normal fics she chose to read. By now she should have been frolicking in the arms of Legolas or Haldir or even both. Some sixth sense of hers was clamouring for attention in her mind, things, apart from the obvious, were definitely not as they appeared. A few moments passed whilst all the new information sank in for Tae and finally in a small voice she asked; "So where is my mother now?"
"Ahh child," he said rising from his high-backed chair to sit upon the floor next to Tae: "I do not expect eight short years to dull the pain of such a parting..."
Elrond wrapped his arms around Tae paternally, and though she felt small, insignificant and slightly insane next to the great Elf Lord, she also felt warm, safe and protected. He smelt of books and fresh grass after rain and for a moment she was aware that she could not remember ever smelling anything in a dream. For the next few heartbeats Tae felt oddly sleepy as she snuggled into the soft robes of her protector, in no time at all her eyelids were drooping and her vision became blurry.
"Your mother heard the gulls cry and sailed across the sea."
